Pebbles and Shells (Hawkes collection)/The Tower of Silence
THE TOWER OF SILENCE
Above the sacred city on the hill
Where India's cloudless heavens seem to lower,
And all the earth and air are deathly still,
There stands dark Dahkma, or the Silent Tower.
Where India's cloudless heavens seem to lower,
And all the earth and air are deathly still,
There stands dark Dahkma, or the Silent Tower.
Deep-lined against the sky its massive form
Towers heavenward from the place of ceaseless prayer,
To front the summer sunshine and the storm,
And evermore to cast its shadow there.
Towers heavenward from the place of ceaseless prayer,
To front the summer sunshine and the storm,
And evermore to cast its shadow there.
No voice of gladness stirs its silent sphere,
And all the place a deathlike stillness keeps,
Save when the vulture screams and hovers near,
And o'er her love a dark Parseean weeps.
And all the place a deathlike stillness keeps,
Save when the vulture screams and hovers near,
And o'er her love a dark Parseean weeps.
No footfall wakes the chamber of the dead
Save when a corse is laid upon the floor,
For spirits move with swift and silent tread,
And Life and Death are parted at the door.
Save when a corse is laid upon the floor,
For spirits move with swift and silent tread,
And Life and Death are parted at the door.
Here side by side is prince and pauper clay,
And royal ash lies mixed with common dust,
Here pomp and glory vanish with decay
And selfish man forgets his greed and lust.
And royal ash lies mixed with common dust,
Here pomp and glory vanish with decay
And selfish man forgets his greed and lust.
Here hoary heads shall lie where babes have slept
And low degree may mingle in the throng,
Here friends shall sleep with friends that they have wept
And innocence forget its grief and wrong.
And low degree may mingle in the throng,
Here friends shall sleep with friends that they have wept
And innocence forget its grief and wrong.
And all day long across the tropic plains
Fair forms are borne by Zerdasht Holy Band,
Up to the hill, in slow and solemn trains,
While Magi chant the sacred words of Zend.
Fair forms are borne by Zerdasht Holy Band,
Up to the hill, in slow and solemn trains,
While Magi chant the sacred words of Zend.
Out of the orient land the mourner comes
Bringing the nation's noblest and its best,
Bearing the idols of a thousand homes
Up to the tower where all at last must rest.
Bringing the nation's noblest and its best,
Bearing the idols of a thousand homes
Up to the tower where all at last must rest.
O Dahkma grim! Thou art the bane of life,
Thy shadows touch the utmost bounds of earth,
And fill man's days with bitterness and strife
And darken every human life at birth.
Thy shadows touch the utmost bounds of earth,
And fill man's days with bitterness and strife
And darken every human life at birth.
But earth and air and sky seem filled with joy,
Creation smiles and all the world is glad,
In Nature's heart there is no dark alloy,
Of all her creatures man alone is sad.
Creation smiles and all the world is glad,
In Nature's heart there is no dark alloy,
Of all her creatures man alone is sad.
Ah no! My soul forgets what Zerdasht saith
And what the earth and heavens declare to me;
That life is but the highway unto death,
And death the door to immortality.
And what the earth and heavens declare to me;
That life is but the highway unto death,
And death the door to immortality.